Malarkey

Sometimes it is good to watch a Christmas movie that looks at things from a different perspective. Often it might be a great experience, which, however, is not true about this movie even though it had the potential. In which Christmas movie you have a sniper targeting your child in the middle of some thermal power station? After that it is a series of sad stories which should intersect at the end. And I admit I expected this intersection to be more interesting. Moreover I expected more hope when it is Christmas, and not only nostalgia and sadness.

Vincent Cassel was a perfect fit for portraying Paul Gauguin. The whole movie is about a part of his life he spent in Pacific where not even the beauty of Tahiti could make up for all the desperation, hopelessness and depression that emanated from this movie.

The main premise of this episode is death in plastic surgery milieu, the secondary premise is an advertisement for Rezi’s guesthouse starring Benno. I chilled during this episode, I had a few laughs and moreover there were even a few horror aspects which I normally wouldn’t expect in this series.

It looks like your typical ghost-type of horror movie to which everyone is used to in a deluge of contemporary horror films. And what you get is a play. It has a few good ideas from time to time but it is really theatrical. When you start to be bored it finally gives you a few answers and plays with you a little. An interesting piece.

I’m not afraid to say that the Spanish amazingly build up a premise based on one murder in this movie. The director plays with you. He lets the main suspect tell you the whole story only to throw in the thoughts of the second suspect. When you are totally confused the lawyer throws in her bit. And when you forget to breathe and your pulse is irregular the ending totally throws you off and it is one of those endings which you will never forget. I don’t know about the other viewers, but as for me, this movie got to my list of the best thrillers I’ve ever seen. Let me bow down before the creators.

A very nice story. On behalf of the Czech distribution I’m surprised that it is so neglected. Jacob Tremblay perfectly portrays a boy who gets obsessed with Mongolia. It is not a fleeting fancy, it is more like that he probably used to be a part of a Mongolian community somewhere in the middle of their local steppe in his previous life. Add to it some family demons and you get a beautiful movie experience from an environment you rarely get a glimpse of.

Statistically speaking, Iceland produces probably the most movies for a resident in Europe, which moreover can be seen worldwide at different festivals. On one hand it would be thanks to the locations, on the other thanks to the people who generally tend to like arts. The director Hlynur Palmason used both of those aspects to their fullest potential. Long story-telling and shots often create a great movie experience where you are watching, for example, a stone rolling down the hill or a shot of a building from a particular angle throughout all four seasons. Those shots are just beautiful. You are watching a dry land without a tree or just a single leaf, the mist that consumes those pointed rock-hills. I don’t know about you but for me it creates a totally Zen-like atmosphere. Unlike Ingvar Sigurðsson who makes me feel uneasy. Probably thanks to that fact his performance was excellent. His character didn’t speak much and that’s why he spoke through his body and mainly eyes. I’m almost not afraid to call it a new acting style. A great experience that actually is a standard for Iceland. Nevertheless this movie is more about the landscape than the dialogues, and therefore it is necessary to be prepared for that.

Baltasar Kormákur is inseparably linked with the nature. Almost every one of his movies is influenced by the nature and it is no different with this one. This movie is about a beautiful but really wild Iceland nature and tells a true story even though no one is able to believe it. A story about a man perfectly portrayed by Ólafur Darri Ólafsson who was able tosurvive his own death. From time to time it is quite dark and you are unable to see anything. Moreover the main character is talking to seagulls a lot and many people might think that the movie is mental and without any film-making qualities. As I know, after so many years, that love for the nature is deeply rooted in the Icelanders (except for the fact that they eat Puffins) I have an understanding for such movies and I have to say that I liked everything about this particular one. A human is an unpredictable creature in all circumstances.

I was wondering at first why Norwegians would go to the Czech Republic to film a fairy tale, but during watching it started to make sense. Ours and their sceneries complement each other perfectly. The combination of rocky valleys and beautiful mountains is a perfect fit for this movie. A fairy tale as it should be. I’m almost wondering if the Scandinavians are used to this kind of fairy tales. Quite unusual for them.

Who thought of this? A Slovak movie directed by a Ukrainian director with French actor/director Jean-Marc Barr in the leading role? Interesting. But the truth is I struggled a lot to get used to the youth in this movie. I minded their tough act including the hip-hop music which is decidedly not my cup of tea. On the other hand it had quite unusual, almost mystical atmosphere. For contemporary Slovak production it was more above average than mediocre. But the story was bad and Jean-Marc Barr wasn’t able to elevate it to a higher quality level, not even with all his weirdness.